HP: Lebron James. I think he's the best. There's nothing he can't do and he's fun to watch.

KH: Tell me a little about Catholic.

HP: They're the best team in the state and have a national ranking. Anybody they put in the game is good, up and down their bench. They run, they like to run so you have to get back on defense. They can push you too. We have to play good defense and take advantage of our opportunities to have a chance.

Up next: Eric Turner

Russellville welcomes NLR on Colors Day, take 2

t wasn't supposed to be this way.

Russellville High School's basketball teams were supposed to host Cabot for Colors Day last Friday, but snow and ice put an end to that. Now, the Cyclones and Lady Cyclones will face North Little Rock on a night of celebration.

Of all the teams in the 7A-Central Conference, one would be hard-pressed to find a tougher set of games for Russellville, starting at 6 tonight in Cyclone Gym.

The Lady Charging Wildcats are fresh off a 41-point rout over the Van Buren Lady Pointers. Not only is NLR the top-ranked girls basketball team in Arkansas, it picked up a No. 25 national ranking in the MaxPreps Xcellent top-25 poll and No. 21 spot in the MaxPreps Freeman Rankings.

"They're so balanced," first-year Lady Cyclones (9-11, 1-6) head coach Steve Wiedower said about the Lady Charging Wildcats (21-0, 7-0). "They've got good perimeter play, their guards are quick. They can shoot the three and penetrate. Then their post players are physical, strong and can score inside. They don't have a weakness, they're solid all the way."

After a loss like Russellville's girls suffered Tuesday night (56-38 to Cabot), it would be understandable for the team to suffer with bouts of sulking. But according to Wiedower, that's the farthest from their minds. They were quick to start thinking about tonight's game

"I told the girls, 'If you're a competitor, you want to play against the best. Yeah, you're going to be the underdog coming in. But girls, you ought to be looking forward to the opportunity,'" he said. "It's something you don't get to do every day. We had a good practice (Wednesday), maybe they've got that in their minds. We've just got to go into it with the thought that if we play against the best, we can get better."

The Cyclones (3-15, 0-7) suffered one of their toughest losses of the season Tuesday night after they led for most of the first half, trailed by 10 and stormed back to nearly secure their first conference win of the season.

"It was tough (Tuesday), the kids in the locker room had their heads down a little bit," head coach Joe Sitkowski said. "But they still care, which is good. They come out and want to work hard. We had one of our best practices (Wednesday). That shows a lot for their character."

Though the Charging Wildcats aren't as highly touted as their lady counterparts, they are nothing to scoff at. They enter tonight's contest at 13-8 overall and 5-2 in conference and Sitkowski said his team remembers their trip to North Little Rock on Jan. 8.

"I think they beat us by 19 (at home)," the coach added. "They're a very good basketball team. I think they had us down 11 or 12 points there in the fourth quarter, and we made a little run at them. We just couldn't hit key baskets. Hopefully this time we'll come out and not get behind. We need to come out and execute, and if we do like we did (Tuesday) we'll have a chance."

Because of Color's Day, the girl's game will follow the boy's game that tips off at 6 p.m.